“37 men were arrested nearly six months ago, and even after repeated requests, they were not released”
Rekha Das, 25, is unable to make ends meet even after working 12 hours as a domestic help. So her 52-year-old mother-in-law started working with her. But the family of six, including her six-year-old son and three sisters-in-law, could hardly manage three meals a day.
“They all went out in trawlers to catch fish, and the Bangladesh Coast Guard nabbed them. It was in early March. Since then, my husband has been in Bangladeshi jails, and no one is willing to lend us money to feed the children,” a weeping Ms. Das said on the phone. Her husband, Sanju Das, 29, of Shantiram Colony in the Sunderbans in the south of West Bengal ventured to the sea with his colleagues. The Bangladesh Coast Guard seized the trawlers and handed over the fishermen to the police. Since March, 79 fishermen have been arrested, in two batches, for crossing the newly demarcated maritime boundary.
The detentions have surprised Indian officials as they have come about when India’s relations with Bangladesh are at their best in decades. “Normally, Bangladesh frees fishermen within a month of arrest. But in this case [involving Sanju Das], 37 men were arrested nearly six months ago, and even after repeated requests, they were not released. Forty-two more were picked up earlier this month,” an Indian government official told The Hindu.
Rabin Das, who owns three of the six confiscated trawlers, cited a reason for the recent arrests. “The maritime boundary was demarcated last year, and the arrests have increased as the fishermen have no knowledge of the new boundary. No one from either country educated them about it,” he said.
Source : The Hindu
